The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-12-21
shou,d coma down to poverty and disgrace.

TIL you gst good crack at him, and when al
last you lind him in tight place, give it to
him. Flay him alive. No quarter. Leave
not rag Of reputation. Jump on him with
both feet Pay him in his own coin sarcasm
for sarcasm, scorn for scorn, abuse for Iuse.
But, my friends, that is not tho right kind OF
heart. No man ever did so mean q thing
toward Us as we have done toward God.
And if we cannot forgive others, how can we
expect God to forgive us3 Thousands OF men
have been kept out Of heaven by an unfor.
giving heart.
Here Is some one who says: II win forgive
that man the wrong he did me about tina,
house and lot: will forgive that man who
overreached me in bargain; will forgive
that man who sold me shoddy overcoat;
forgive them all-all but one. That man I can.
not forgive. The villain-I can hardly keep
my hands off Of him. If my going to Heaven
depends on my forgiving HIM, then l will
stay out" Wrong feeling! If a man lie to
II a man betray me once, 1 am not called to
put confidence in him again. But wouk
have no rest II could not offer sincers
prayer for the temporal and everlasting wei
fare of all men, whatever meanness
and outrage they have inflicted upon
me. II you want to get your hear
right, strike match and burn up all youl
old gruiges and blow the ashes away. "1
you forgive not men their trespasses, neither
will your heavenly Father forgive you YOU
trespasses" An old Christian black woman
was going along the streets Of New York
with basket Of apples that she had for sale.
A rough sailor ran against her and upset the
basket, and stood back expecting to hear her
scold frightfully; but she stopped down and
picked uD the apples and said: God forgive
you, my son, as do" The sailor saw the
meanness Of what he had done and felt in
his pocket for his money. and insisted that
she should take it all Though she was black
he called her mother and said: "Forgive
me, mother; I will never do anything so
mean again." All! there is power in for
giving spirit to overcome all hardness.
There is no way OF conquering men like that
whether they will accept it or not.
Again, a right heart is an expectant heart.
It is poor business to be building castles in
the air. Enjoy what you have now. Don't
spoil your comfort in the small house be-
cause you expect a larger one Don't fret
about your income when it is So or a per day
because you expect to have after awhile
go per day sG @ S9 year because yoH Sssv sy
emily things, the more we think the better
Those castles are not in the air, but on the
hills, and we have deed of them in our posses
sion. I like to see man all full Of heaven.
He talks heaven. He sings heaven. He
prays heaven. He dreams heaven. Some Of
Us in our sleep have had the good place open
to us. We saw the pinnacles in the sky. We
heard the click Of the hoofs OF the white
horses on which victors rode, and the clap
ping of the cymbals Of eternal triumph. And
while in our sleep we were glad that all our
SORROWS were over, and burdens done
kl,roro ~ H,1 eyraru uhifar yVhitar
and whittier, till we opened our eyes and saw
that it was only the sun Of the earthly morn
ing shining on our pillow. To have right
heart you need to be filed with this expec.
fancy. 1t would make your privations and
annoyances more bearable.
Some talk of heaven as though it were q
handsome church, where few favored splr-
its would come in and sit down on finely
cushioned seats all by themselves and sing
psalms to all eternity. No, no. II saw
great multitude that no man could number
Standing before the throne. He that talked
with me had golden reed to measure the
city and it was 12 900 furlongs" that is, 1,5OO
miles in circumference. All! heaven Is not a
little colony at one corner Of Coils do
minion where mans entrance depends upon
what kind of clothes he has on his back and
how much money he has in his purse, but q
vast empire. God grant that the light OF
that blessed world may shine upon us In our
last moment.
The roughest time we had in crossing the
ocean was at the mouth Of Liverpool harbor.
We arrived at nightfall and were obliged to
lie there till the morning waiting for the
rising of. the tide before we could go up to
the city. How the vessel pitched and
writhed in the waterl So sometimes the last
illness of the Christian is struggle DE Is
almost through the voyage. The waves OF
temptation toss the soul, but ne waits for the
morning At last the light dawns and the
tides Of joy arise in his soul and no sails up
and casts anchor within the veil.
Is thy heart right9 What question can
compare with this in importance :.
1t is q business question. Do you not realize
that you will soon have to go out OF that
store: that you will soon have to resign that
partnership; that soon among all the millions
of dollars worth Of goods that are sold In
New York you will not have the handling OF
a yard of cloth, or a pound of sugar, or pen
nyworth of anything; that soon II a confa,
grafton should start at Central Park ana
sweep everything to the Battery, 1t wGuia
not disturb you; that soon If every cashier
should abscond, and every insurance ohn.
pany should fail, it would not affect you!
What are the questions that stop this side the
grave compared with the questions that
reach beyond ita Are you making losses that
ara to be everlasting7 Are you making par-
chases for eternityl Are you jobbing Tor
time when you might be wholesaling FOR
eternityl What question Of the store is 80
broad at the base and so altitudinous and 80
overwhelming a. the question: us thy heart
rightl"
thing about father, or mother, or companion,
or son, or daughter, that you think is com
parable with this question in importancei DO
you not realize that by universal and lnexor.
able law all these relations will be broken up!
Your father will be gone, your mother will
be gone. your companion will be gone, your
child will be gone, you will be gone; and then
this supernal question will begin to harvest
its chief gains, or deplore its worst losses, roll
up into its mightlest magnitude, or sweep It's
vast circles. What difference now does it
make to Napoleon III whether he triumphed
or surrendered at Sedanl whether he lived OF
the Tuileries or at Chiselhurst? whether ne
was Emperor or exile! They laid him out in
his coffin in the dress Of field marshal. Did
that give him any better chance for the next
world than if he had been laid out in
a plain shrouda And soon to us
what will be the difference whether
in this world we rode or walked,
were bowed to or maltreated, were
applauded or hisse1 at were welcomed in or
kicked out, while laying hold Of every mo.
meut OF the great future and burning in all
the splendor OF grief and overarching and
undergoing all time and all eternity is the
plain, simple, practical, thrilling, agonizing,,
overwhelming question: Us thy heart r; right IT.
expectant heart? If not 1 must write upon
your soul what George Whitefiold wrote
upon the window pane with his diamond
ring. He tarried in an elegant house over
night, but found that there was no God
recognized in that house. Before he left his
room in the morning with his ring he wrote
upon the window pane: Zone thing thou
lackest." After the guest was gone the
housewife came up and looked at the win
dow and saw the inscription and called her
husband and her chillren, and God, through
IL